Aesthetic - The course isn't overly beautiful compared to some around the country, overlooking lakes or rock croppings. But with all the other things this Metropark has to offer (since you paid to get in anyway), it is difficult not to say it is aesthetically pleasing with wildlife.

Challenge - RHBH will definitely find this much more difficult than RHFH or LFBH. But the first 1 to 16 holes are tricky but not so challenging, with a couple of the pro tees more challenging. Those first 16, I would say, it is difficult to birdie them all, but not that hard to par or better with either a good drive or good approach. Holes 17 to 27 are why I say this is a challenging course. Overall the whole course has some elevation change, and the majority of the challenge is with how tightly the baskets are tucked right, which is behind deep woods. I was debating with whether Challenge for Black Locust was pro or con, as many people I know play 1-18 and don't see the more difficult 19-27, but I think it's a pro.

TeePads/Baskets - Like them a lot, no issues for me. 4 concrete slabs deep on most.

Signage - Talk about signs, most courses that have dual pads have 1 marker just at the closer tee. But here, you'll find signs at both tees telling distance and map. It's nice.

Fun - If my wife, and kids can make it thru the whole thing, it's gotta be fun. Usually they are good for 8 to 12 holes, but instead of them walking while I play, they played on thru. Lots of chances for aces when you find your line, and you get a bit lucky there isn't a stray twig hanging down to alter the shot a couple hundred feet down the run. You're always racing to the next basket to see if you just may get another birdie or get even luckier. Now I won't even go into the other things around the course to do while in the MetroPark, but that adds to fun too.

Locatability - Who can't find a metro park? That's easy, step 2 is getting your hands on the map of the park and getting to this course. Everyone in the area knows about this place, and can tell you how to get here, but it's pretty easy, and maps help, park rangers, I would not be scared to get lost and not find. You may drive a long way, but you'll get there.

Variety - Not a huge variety for such a large and well planned course. But there are some limitations. There is a big downhill (1 of them), a couple holes that start higher and throw downish, but most are flat and partially to fully wooded. Most of the time you'll step up and say oh, another sidearm throw and the basket is behind the rough tucked up in-between trees.

Congestion - Because this is a well-known, and very good course, it gets busy. Even with all the fees. Worse yet, some courses you can skip a couple holes to reduce wait times, and so you would look to another hole to start, not so much here with the size and woods. And the groups can get big, and there can be a lot of people too. But remember, we're all DG'ers, so they're great people, so sometimes congestion is good stuff too. Meet someone new, or learn something you didn't know, watch somebody throw.

Maintained/Bugs - I haven't see them spraying for bugs, and never was invited to the controlled burns like other parks. I also didn't see the DNR guy out with a weed-eater trying to keep some of the grass-rough to less than a half a foot, or stray branches that grew in the throw lanes, or removing those picker vines. But this adds to the charm of being at a MetroPark DiscGolf course. Having said that, the course is clean, lots of benches and garbage cans, love the pickle design on one of the course signs, and if I see garbage here, I'll pick it up.

Whats holding it back from higher rating - I would go a little higher on this course if a few holes changed it up a bit. There's one hole, 17 I believe, where the basket is in a stump, love it. But do more, like add large rocks / patterns of them as obstacles of sorts. Add some major uphill action, there are hills, take advantage, just switch it up. I wouldn't dare say boring at all about this course, but nudge it up from a 4.0 to a 4.5 with more variety.

Kid Friendly - It's a metropark and there is a ton to do here besides DG. But for the disc golfing, kids will like it, mine did. With as rough as the rough is and mosquito's, you may want to choose the timing, and kids could get discouraged, but I would put this on the list for kids.

Older/Less Active Player Friendly - It's a pretty long course, with some hills. But it's more the rough and length of course I would worry about for these folks. If they tire or need to leave, it's not an easy out. This may not be ideal for them.

Rookie Friendly - Yes, Rookie's should like this place. Working on that sidearm is always good, but have a spotter for that disc. But I'm betting there will be more than a few shots that will really get a rookie feeling good.

Average Player Friendly - I think your average player will absolutely love this place. As mentioned, those first say 16 holes, there are lots of chances with a good drive you could be thinking aces, or cherish some nice putts. Either way, I think you'll be jones' for more and wanting to do this course again because there was that one tree, or that one stinking branch, if it wasn't there, man...

Pro Player Friendly - Out by yourself, I am not so sure, it may be a bit too easy for long stretches. But with a group, to cheer and you to cheer them and walk and talk and be at this great setting, nice. Some technical shots, or a little luck because of how this tree has grown up and branched or a few of them have. Depends on the pro, if you're in the area grab a friend of a local, it will be fun.

Last Point - I don't work for these guys but if you're needing gear or food, Holden's Party Store is really close to this, and they have a wide variety of discs, plus the food they make is good too, we always stop by, it's on the way for me. Also, and just found this a couple months ago, just 10-15 minutes away there is a Play It Again Sports in Novi/Northville. They were finally open when I went that way, and I was shocked, large assortment of discs, but also used stuff at a good deal. I'd say stop by and check these out if you're tired of Dunham's, Dick's, or actually want to put your hands on a disc in a store (I do 95% of my shopping for discs online too)

lots of Elevation starting on hole 1 ,epic downhill that requires dead strait drive to land in the fairway. some holes are a little short and easy but there is still pleanty of cool challenging fairways 19 is another exceptional fairway throwing off a steep hill seems the last 9 of 27 is the hardest.

can get really crowded , green fee on top of metro park fee .

despite the fees i really love the metro park courses and the metro park concept this whole park is outstanding .

Great extra large cement tee pads. Great looking holes. Well kept and plenty of trash bins.

The overwhelming majority of shots are left to right. And not just a little. As a right you either need a very flipped disc or a forehand. This applies to tee shots and many approach shots. Many pins are tucked to the right of the green.

VERY unforgiving ruff. It's thick and there is a lot of vines and small plants to hide discs.

Mosquitoes, but what wooded course doesn't have them?

This is a great course. Bad shots are made much worse with the pin placement and underbrush, but playing a tuff course will make you better. Forces you to think differently and try new shots.

Also, remember as a metro park your state pass won't get you free parking. If you don't have a metro park pass it will be 10$ to get in plus the $3 to play.

Also, the people that play here are very nice and return discs. The counter had a stack of discs people had brought back and the disc I lost today the person actually called me. To far of a drive for me to go back to get it, but in 16 years of playing it's the first time anyone has ever called me on a lost disc.

- Very clean & well kept up
- Challenging for the RHBH player
- Lots of birdie opportunities (But you have to execute) your shots to get them.
- It's in a beautiful metropark
- Practice basket & restrooms!

- Mosquitoes can get bad at times (Deepwoods Off!)
- Can get kinda backed-up/Busy but that's the game!
- Quite a few blind tee shots and approaches, playing alone could be tough.

Fun & challenging holes for every style of player. This course is something that I have been putting off for a while...but never again! The holes do favor a sidearm or lefty maybe 60% of the time but I don't mark it down for that. It's just that much more challenging!

Starting off beautiful park, has amazing views on the drive in and tons of other draws as well. If I could have spent the day in the park I would have.

Parking lot is large, but still pretty full. Pretty popular course it seems.

Two large port a johns near the entrance, good thing too since I pulled up Ina suit and needed to change(or be the best dressed golfer ever).

The man at the ticket booth was very knowledgeable and gave me a map and a good rundown of the course. Much appreciated from an out of towner.

The holes were quite varied with two placements for ever tee. I played mostly the longer tees except when there was a marked possibility of losing a disc( old had 3 discs in my travel bag). There were a lot of nice angles that were challenging and a lot of fun to pull out shots I don't use every day. Used some short thumbers,forehand rollers and even a jump putt. Overall quite varied and a lot of fun to play.

Locals were friendly and I got offered more beers and waters on the course than I have in any other two hour period.

One guy was grilling after his round and gave me an ear of grilled corn!

Just a great time overall.

One of the few cons was almost every available surface was tagged, I almost wrote "stop writing on everything!" On a tee marker... But then realized that would be counterproductive.

There is a path of beer bottle caps on one hole which is cool looking, but little things like this keep it from having a pro quality aesthetic.

The only thing about the course itself was the fact that a ton of the holes end right lefties and flickers(like me) probably love this course but if you play RHBH your probably going to tire of throwing turnover shots.

A very fun course for a casual round, I had a great time playing the widely varying holes. All the different looks and nicely maintained parkland, they do a good job here.

I played in intermittent rain and it was still this good. I would recommend if your in the area trying it.

Very nice layout, good flow when it's not packed, met a lot of good people out there over the years. Gives the great opportunity to practice a variety of different shots.

Does get crowded a lot of the time. Lots of littering and again, lots of punk kids that are just there to party and don't respect the sport or the course.

Aesthetic--Grand entrance to the course! kind of a Wally's World of disc golf... area is NOT dg exclusive but the hiking trails are marked so it shouldn't be an issue.

Teepads--Gigantic. I used maybe (maybe) 1/2 of the teepad for my 6'4'' frame. these teepads had to be close to 15' long...all in great repair. brooms could/would be useful as this course is very sandy.

Teesigns- they are there but could most certainly be more descriptive of the basket placement. some locals have added comments to some of the teesigns ("far right" for example)

Navigation- pretty easy. simply follow the most clear path from the basket and you'll likely run into the next tee..

Dual pads-- most holes feature two teepads. both of which are cement. it's nice to have choice. some of the longs are INTENSE!

elevation- use of elevation here is key. the available elevation is used extremely well. Especially nice were the two shots (longs) from the top of the hill across the valley (#1 and #19).

two loop design-- nice to be able to play the original 18 and the back 9 as separate entities if you wanted to.

#27--really dug this hole. pretty sweet bomber with left fades finishing out to a elevated basket..

Variety-- some positives and some negatives here, I'll list them separately: As for types of holes there is a little of everything here, short, long, tight woods, open, bomber, uphill, down hill... great amount of this variety

Variety-- STRONGLY favors a LHBH player or someone with a very strong turnover. I am neither. I'm not downgrading this course because I didn't do well, I didn't do poorly. I'm down grading here for lack of variety. it seemed like 2/3 of all the holes finished right.

Wet- this course holds water very well and was mucky in a lot of places.

rough- From what I've heard the rough is a bear in the summer. It wasn't bad when we were there but I'm sure it's worse when the trees are full.

Length-- I understand this is a technical course but the short holes are many here. I used a mid or fairway driver 75% of the time.

Great course, pay to play keep some (but not all) the riff raff out...

Lots of variety. Wide open fields to tight fairways. Well maintained and lots of very challenging holes. There are quite a few holes that you start blind off the tee makes it fun and challenging. Also lots of right dog legs to challenge us right handed players.

Can get busy. Needs to have next tee arrows got a little turned around on the middle holes. Some dog poop on fairways. (Not the parks fault just lazy pet owners, list it as more of a warning)

I use to play the old course back in the day, this was the first I played the Black Locust. I really enjoyed it and it was nice to see a few old familiar holes and the new stuff (well new to me) was really fun to play. It's a pay course but worth it! It's only 2 bucks for the day.

Overall the course is beautiful!
Cement tees on all holes, almost all have short tees as well.
Signs are the carved type.
Love the technical challenge on the upshot of most of the holes.
Excellent use of elevation and terrain.
Benches and picknic tables spread out throughout course.
Garbage cans @ every tee.
Friendly and helpful course rangers.

Course favors LHBH, and RHFH.
Some vandalism.
Course could use next hole signs.

Love this course played 3 days in a row with my 7 year old Grandson.

This course is one of the more challenging courses i have played. It has a nice variety of holes and many distance and height changes within it. I live about an hour from the course but would play again. The locals are very friendly as well as the park rangers. Very beautiful and scenic with great signage and plenty of garbage cans and benches.

Confused on, he need for both short and long tees. They were only about 100 feet apart and not much more challenging. Careful of the thorns near the sides of the fairway. That could have been maintained better.

It was worth it in general and had a great time playing. Would love to see some tournaments here.

**27 holes, seemed LHBH/RHFH dominant, a good number of holes did bend left. I would say only 4-5 of them were significantly 'out of the woods'. Everything else played into woods, or betreed copses scattered throughout fairways. Really dynamic course though, lots of different shots required to score well. I threw a handful of OH, some RHBH(I'm a RHFH/LHBH ambidextrous weirdo), needed a roller or two. No monotony here, folks!

**Pro/Am tees at most holes, otherwise suggested par varies from 3-5 for ams, and strictly 3 for pros when sharing tee pads.

**Great mix of terrain, you'll play through open field fairways, spotty trees w/ mulch/sand, hills up and down of various grades/heights, shady lush woods.

**Seating and garbage cans ABOUND! very clean course litter wise, and plenty of shady spots to rest on hot days (yesterday it was 102*, really enjoyed the picnic tables!)

**Probably because it was so hot, we only came across two other groups, one was a father/son pair who were super nice and gladly allowed my buddy and I to play through. The other dudes seemed like they were on their home course, real nice guys as well and kept their pace the rest of the way through. The Park Ranger was actually an OG too, pretty cool guy.

**We found it pretty easy to get turned around looking for the next tee. Threw backwards off of 3 across the fairway of 19, went on an abbreviated nature hike when we went the wrong way from the chains in the woods.

**Kind of akin to the last bullet, a handful of chains were hidden atop a hill. You get left with your best guess, generally "ah, must be tucked up and right" lol.. Might not be a con, just seemed like a cheap way to get a stroke out of a first-timer.

**Some of the roughs are really.. friggin.. thick. We luckily held onto all of our discs yesterday. Keep your shots straight and you'll be a happy golfer.

**It may have just been my bad luck, but I found a tick on my calf after getting a disc out of some tall grass. Luckily hadn't started to bite yet and I flicked the lil punk away, but let it be known, Kensington is in the sticks, y'all. Bring bug-spray and be vigilant about ticks, snakes (I'm sure they're out there) and other assorted oddities.

**If its warm out, go jump in the lake after your round!

Long cement T-pads
27 holes
Amazing park

Lots of tall grass
Majority of holes were left to right

Like others have said, you could spend a day or two just exploring the park. The place is huge and seems like a fantastic park.

These were by far the best tee pads that I have ever played on period. So nice and big. The course is 27 holes of fun with a good mix of open and tight holes. The design makes good use of the natural setting without being overly ambitious with its land use. The tee signs were very nice and it was super cool to see that there were shorter tee pads on all the holes that needed a shorter tee pad and on many other holes. The shorter pads make it more fun for better players to play with more novice players. The course gets no outside traffic and has the feel of a country club. The course is well maintained, though one would expect that with having to pay to play. It is nice that the layout basically has an 18 hole course and a 9 hole course for those who may just want to get in a quick nine holes. There are really nice score cards at the booth. The par listed on the cards is very accurate as to what one might expect to shoot. This course was not out of reason for a beginning player.

There does feel like some repeatative holes. How many times can you throw that slight left to right shot through a tight tunnel? It is a pay to play course which is always a negative if you ask me. The tee signs though very nice did not always give you a good representation of how much each hole bends. Traffic at this course has to be bad, as it was very busy in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday when I played. The bugs on this course are really bad. Literally put on the bug spray and two holes later had to put it on again. The back 9 or last 9 are the worst for bugs by far. If you are playing in the off season you technically have to go somewhere else in the park to pay before you play.

This was a really fun course to play. I happened to like most of the longer holes on this course and was only frustrated a couple of times with the tight holes. Still the tight holes were fair. This is one of those courses that you will definately want to play though there are a few things that detract from it.

huge course, they open up an extra 9 holes at peak season, lot of tournaments-great course for right or left handed peeps, pretty nice hole lay-out

lots of trees, tall grass, lost discs often, but dont let that get u down it pays off u find a lot of discs too!

try to concentrate!

The biggest Pro - Kensington is almost in my backyard! Great for people who throw both fore-hand and back-hand, favors lefties and fore-hand in my opinion.

I miss the old course!

I enjoy this course alot, I throw both fore and back hand, that's a HUGE benefit here, the extras are great!

This course has an excellent up north feel. The view from the first tee pad (long) is incredible. Because of the location of this course within the park itself it has an isolated feeling. Nobody who is not playing frolf is gonna get in the way. This course is getting a reputation for being too hard for beginners which keeps the course moving right along.

The course is very clean, which is something to be said for a course in southeast michigan.

From the shorts, this course is very technical. Par is not hard to achieve if you can throw it 200 ft. and land in the fairway (at least for the first 18).

The extra nine offer a completely different experience than the first 18 (read much more difficult). It is like a completely different course. Even landing in the fairway is not a guarantee for par, because of the technical nature of the course. Sometimes it pays to lay up!

Makes excellent use of the land that I used to gaze out at before the course was 24 holes. Everything is easy to find, with the exception of hole 6. The pathway directly behind the basket is way more clearly defined than than the new pathway to the next basket. Maybe some shrubbery behind the basket would prevent any confusion.

From the long tees this course is probably the best I have played in Michigan. You don't have to be able to throw it 400+ in order to par every hole, though it helps. A solid 300 ft. drive, with accuracy, is all you need to have a chance at par on every hole. The longest holes don't play as long as they are due to elevated tees.

WAY too many rhbh anhyzer, or forehand shots for a righty. This is the most friendly course for a left handed thrower that I have ever played.

The short tees could stand to be a little tougher. Most of them are pretty short/easy. Would be comparable to the old Kensington course before it had cement tees, with the original pin positions, and only 18 holes.

In another year this course is going to be the best around. I imagine a slight adjustment of the pin positions, in order to compensate for the drastic lefty bias, and some thinning out of the rough due to more play making the course a little bit more forgiving to errant drives.

-Challenging tee placement if your playing the pros
-Spreadout layout so your never really on top of other players
-Big enough where my dog can go nuts and run non stop
-Challenges to throw many anhyzers when most courses do the opposite
-Score Cards w/map
-Terain comes into play
-Technical Design
-Well maintained
-Enough Trash Cans

-Metro park staff are standoffish
-Mesquitos
-Toilets needed service
-Random Rocks in tall grass my friend completely ate it going for a disc

The pay to play thing kind of sucks because I am cheap person but it shows on the course that are like this one. Also it being so new makes it a joy to play and it is clean. I would recomend it, it is as good as Hudson Mills.

The Locust is a great course which offers a variety of hyzers, anhyzers, and straight shots for lefties and righties alike. The front 18 are a real confidence booster, even from the longs, with lots of birdie runs (and even a few ace runs), and the champion 9 really bring even the best players back down to Earth.
I played the tunnel course for the last 7 years or so, and I love the pay to play, it really thins out the crowds and keeps the course much cleaner. The crew even carries a broom on their golf cart for clearing those sandy pads!!!
I must confess, I love this course because it has helped me to develop my backhand, forehand, and thumber shots.

Very few... I've lost a few discs (which, sadly, have not been returned, even with my name and number on them).
My score has suffered 4 or 5 strokes, but that has made me a better player and put me in the mindset to par every hole rather than going for birdies on every drive.

Once the Toboggan course is up, I cannot imagine a better place to play a weekend tournament.
Also, don't expect to shoot the round of your life out here. I've only played from the longs, and a 4 over was my best round on 27, averaging more like 8 over. The front 18 are great (not too hard to shoot an even, which is about what I avg) and the back 9 are as challenging as any holes I've ever played (avg about 7 over).
Great job Mark and the Discraft crew!!!

A huge departure from the previous course. Although the original was a nice play, it was far to easy and allowed for bloated scores. The new layout boasts consistent elevation changes without just throwing off a hill. Plays through hills and valleys.

The distance doesn't need to be increased as the vast majority of the holes are more technical than anything. If you shoot an errant shot you will be losing an extra stroke the majority of the time.

Heavily wooded. Technical. Challenging. Unforgiving.

Great mix of hole styles with the last 9 being more of a pro caliber layout.... even from the am tees. I would say the majority of the holes are blind.

Not too many. SInce the course if brand new, the rough is VERY rough. I have played two times and have bled both times. Hardly any grip and rip holes. Gets a bit tiresome when you really want to utilize your max distance throws.

People came on immediately dubbed this a course that favors lefty's. This is a major cop out. There are a good deal of right turns but this only makes you reach in your bag more for understable, roller, and towahawk shots. THose who depend on throwing a desroyer/Surge type disc may be sour but it makes for a far more interesting round. Also, over time the course will ease as branches and trees are removed. Overall a big time pro caourse from the longs and the shorts are super challenging as well.

Hole 18 is affixed to the top of a massive stump. My first play through was plus 15 through 27 holes.

Brand new course so everything is marked and well layed out. This course offers both wide open "field" shots and some technical holes through the original woods. Not very busy, but we played the first five holes in a monsoon, which everyone has to try at least once. It was awesome!

***UPDATE***
Course has had a lot of time to break in and it is progressing nicely. Great signage throughout is still standing; good to see our fellow DGers respecting the land. Pay to play I'm sure comes into play here as well. This course has become as flooded with folks as Cass Benton!

Locust really challenges you to hit your lines. From the bomb off of tee #1 to the tunnel shot on #18, errancy will be punished. It is challenging without ruining your fun factor.

Now, the bonus 9 are hard as hell. Seriously, they should be par 4's. Some impossible lines to follow through these long and winding holes; also some thicket shots through Sherwood... BE PREPARED FOR THESE HOLES. They are almost worth a play just by themselves - these are on another level from the rest of the 18.

We only got to play 21 of the 27 holes because we lost the daylight, which was upsetting because the last few holes looked like a great challenge. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't get to travel back through the tunnel under the road and play the other side at all. I figured they would have kept a hole or two on the other side. The bugs weren't too bad when we played but that was most likely because of the storm, so bring some spray (we even used some).

I gave the original Kensington course a 3.5 because I couldn't rate it equal with Hudson Mills or Rolling Hills. Those courses are just better. I was very excited to play the new course, and I really love what they've done with the new land. These holes were the most fun to play. The "redesigned" holes form the OGC were OK, but they still had the same feel about them, which was disheartening. Moving a pin location over two feet from where it was does not make it a new hole. Overall this is a great course that is designed well to offer as much variety as the land will allow. Recommended.

***UPDATE***
Black Locust is really starting to warm on me. Each time through I like it better than the last, and I find myself wont to come back. Now on par with Rolling Hills/Hudson Mills in my book as one of the better courses in the Metro Area. DO IT TO IT!